Operatics – Thorsten Franz’s Next Adventure

First off – read this post, please

http://scn.sap.com/community/hana-in-memory/blog/2013/07/31/betting-my-livelihood-on-the-oltp-olap-convergence-meet-operatics-thorsten-s-hana-startup

I cannot be happier for my dear friend, Thorsten Franz. If you don’t know Thorsten – reach out to him on twitter ( @thorstenster) or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/operatics . Trust me it will be worth your time to know him – and you can thank me later 🙂

Thorsten is an SAP Mentor – but I think of him as a mentor of SAP Mentors. He epitomizes everything that program stands for. He is one of those people who can blend deep technical expertise effortlessly with his love for writing and teaching . Couple of years ago, I got a thorough training from him in one hour on how to use River. This was done on a piece of paper and his laptop, when we were both at SAP Teched Madrid. In that one hour – I learned more than what I could have learned by myself in a month or more. He understood not just how it worked – but also how it was designed, what it could not do then, and where he expected it to go in future.

One of my biggest regrets in professional life is that I could not find a way to work with him in the same team. I tried many different times – but it just did not work out. But now with his new start up – I think we will have a chance finally to collaborate closely. I know for sure that I will learn a lot from that.

What is also pretty impressive to me personally is that he walked away from a cushy big company job , to try his hand at something he is passionate about. This is not a guy who is known as a dare devil risk taker. I have talked to Thorsten quite a bit and have taken his advice on many topics – I have never heard him say anything without careful consideration and deep thought. So when he chose to bet his future on Hana – you can imagine how thrilled I was.

Thorsten is living proof of how realistic the vision Hasso and Vishal have laid out for SAP Hana. He literally bet his livelihood on the convergence of OLTP and OLAP. How cool is that ? And having followed his very successful weight loss campaign on social media – I know he can meet any goal he sets for himself .

Thorsten , I wish you nothing but the BEST in both personal and professional life . It is an honor to have you as a friend . I am sure Operatics will scale great heights , and I look forward to celebrating your success – with a bottle of single malt of course.